The Milky Way - Encore
Living With VIXX: Making An Album [Hiatus]
Author's note: My first VIXX concert... The start of the daydreams leading to my first VIXX fanfiction. Been imagining scenarios and slowly writing things down for so many years. This concert means so much to me. This chapter is dedicated to that day ♡
A concert… Something that you can get excited for the second it gets announced. The point that you buy your ticket; standing, seated, regular, early access, VIP.
The waiting, a moment too long – the thrill of realizing that you are going to see artists that you have been dying for to see in real life. The preparations; what way of transportation, maybe a hotel, food for the day, the items you bring with you, time and money management. Everything to make sure that the day will be perfect.
The waiting, a moment too long until the day arrives. You are on your way to the venue; on your own, maybe with friends, family, strangers. As you are walking on the street you see others around you following the same path. Waiting in line; maybe you are the first arriving, somewhere in between, maybe you wait until almost everyone is already inside. Everyone gathered at this one venue for what will happen that evening.
The waiting, a moment too long until you arrive at your place. The atmosphere is tense; fans feeling anxious yet excited, the pressure you feel in your body, the mixed voices filling the space. You look around and realize that it is really happening. You are there.
The waiting, a moment too long until the concert actually begins. The awareness that everything you have waited for is happening right before your eyes. The awareness that, in this very time, this very place, everything comes together. Everyone in that venue, gathered to experience something that they all love.
The love for music.
The waiting, a moment too long until the concert progresses. Time suddenly goes fast. One song flows into another. The artists will have a talk; telling stories on how they are feeling, experiencing things, on how the upcoming song came about, showing their gratitude towards everyone who came that day. Maybe you scream, applaud, sing along, clap along, dance, cry – you are fully immersed, captivated by the show.
The waiting, a moment too long until it ends. The artist is gone, the normal lights turn on, people are leaving, staff comes to clean everything. Your ears having to adapt to the now calmer surroundings, no more music to dance to, nothing to see anymore.
It is over. Done. The euphoria has died. You can be saddened, mourning the moment that just ended. Maybe you will never see the artists again. Maybe you will see them in the future, but you do not know when. But one thing is for sure: you have been there, you have seen them.
And you try to hold onto its memories.
~~~~~~
“Wake up.” Morena softly pushed Nadia on her shoulder with her hand. The other one inhaled sharply, getting pulled out of her sleep, and raised her head.
She looked around, her eyes refusing to fully open before it was used to the light coming from the nightstand in between the beds. “How late is it?”
“Six.”
Turning around and sitting up straight, she tried to stretch out her sleep. “How long have you been awake?”
“One hour.” Morena took off the towel that was wrapped around her head and ruffled her hair a bit with it to loosen the damp hair.
“Ah, good.” Nadia was quick on her feet, so she would catch up with the other in no time. She hopped off the bed and got into the bathroom to take a shower as well.
In the same fashion as two days before, they were off to the venue. It was still dark outside as the girls walked out the hotel. Colder than yesterday – about minus two degrees Celsius or roughly twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit – both girls shivered as the soft wind hit their face. They were fully awake now. Using public transportation, they could see that not a lot of people joined them. Of course, it was close to 7AM on a Sunday, why would anyone be in the metro by that time? About half an hour later they arrived at Iéna station and walked out of the metro station. It was the break of dawn. Minute after minute, the girls noticed that they could see more of their surroundings. Even after walking the same route once, they knew which direction they had to go. It was a bit harder since it was still dark, but they managed. The only thing they could not manage was the knot in their stomach. Nervousness grew with each step. It was a good kind of nervousness, the excited one. Sometimes, the worry would set in as well, but that was because they did not know the area. They would have to get something to eat eventually, or go to the bathroom. Morena did look up some places where they could go to, but it is easier to see than to actually go to those locations. As they walked up the square, there were only two handfuls of people there sitting on a flight of stairs right before the entrance. Being polite, they both greeted everyone and sat down at the last step.
The morning and afternoon before the showcase felt long. With some help from the others, they learned that there were actually two lines at the stairs: Left for regular tickets, right for early access. So to the right it was. As the time came and went, more people joined them and by two hours in the afternoon the fans were scattered around the area; the left line curled to the left and outlined the plaza and the right one got up a flight of stairs and turned left to create a line against the building. The girls took turns in taking care of their stuff when they had to get some food, needed to stretch their legs or go to the toilet. For the latter, they walked fifteen minutes to the Eiffel Tower. Just short before the doors of the venue would open, they thought that it was the only toilet around. Not even a one-minute walk from the venue was a museum with toilets that could be used for free – and were clean as well. Regardless, they could take a nice walk for a chance, which was nice. By the second time they took the route, they remembered it; it was simply walking forwards and taking a few slight turns. No navigation needed anymore. The weather was so much better in the afternoon. Still cold, but the sun was shining, giving you some warmth as you walked. Besides all of that, the girls mainly sat on those same stairs, pushing themselves against each other for some warmth. A couple of fans had arranged some activities: playing songs, listening and singing along. Sometimes they would dance as well. Nadia really wanted to join them, but her doubt won and she simply stared at them from a distance. Morena did not feel the need to tag along with the others: She only wanted to sing and watch.
From time to time, they had a small mental breakdown over the fact that they would be seeing the VIXX members in a couple of hours, hearing them live, seeing them perform, being in the same room. The nervousness would rush through their veins and they could only laugh, groan or sigh with bodily spasms or little dance moves.
The evening had started as well as the twilight. The organizers had delayed the entrance time to seven, so everyone was already on their feet by that time thinking it would start at five. The crowd was anxiously waiting for the doors to open and by the time that it happened, everyone was so excited that the whole square was filled with high shrieks and happy conversations. The row on the right was allowed to go in first; by the kind of ticket you got a different color wristband. The girls’ was neon pink with the words “Early access & Hi-Touch” printed on it. They were fortunate to get the most expensive tickets: early access, concert and a Hi-Touch – where you are able to give the members a high five – together with a photo with all the members. Morena was so excited that she wanted to continue walking after she got her wristband, but she felt pulled back by her arm. It was Nadia, too scared to lose her in the mass of people who started hasting to get in. She waited for the other to get her wristband and together they walked in. The entrance hall was a big collection of stairs, leading you straight to the right side of the venue. A few people had caught up with them and had placed themselves against the barricades. The girls were now second row, which was still good enough for them. They went to the middle and could see everything easily. As the rest of the crowd came in, they realized that there were very short people behind them, so the girls switched with the two of them. They could both look over them, so why not.
“Thank you so much for persuading me into buying the VVIP tickets instead of the regular ones. I’ve never stood so close to the stage.” Nadia whispered into Morena her left ear. It was also the first time for Morena to stand so close, but because she is taller than Nadia she always had a better view than the other did. “Even though my feet hurt so bad… How long do we have to stand here before the concert begins?”
Morena looked at her mobile. “Officially forty-five minutes... But we’ll see about that.”
Both girls looked around, watching as the venue slowly filled with more fans.
Nadia scoffed. “The organisation is already failing. We were supposed to be inside hours ago.” The other one looked away, but Nadia leaned in towards her to regain her attention. “The concert better be good.”
“Of course!” Morena smirked as she poked Nadia between her ribs with her elbow. “Just enjoy everything…. And think about the boys.” She sang the last part.
Nadia her eyes widened, feeling very nervous suddenly. She began stamping her feet as she cheerfully jumped a few times. “I’m so happy!” She could not stop her enthusiasm. Morena laughed and continued to watch the others around them. Nadia calmed down and started playing with the lightstick she bought that afternoon.
As planned, all the lights went out at eight. The instant euphoria hyped everyone up. Screams filled the venue and heavy-bass music started to play. There was one screen that filled almost the entire wall of the stage, showing a clip that introduced the members. It was in the concept of Hyde, the exact same black outfits plus they were shown doing some of its choreography. Every time a name of a member popped up, the volume of the screaming increased. Everyone’s nerves went through the roof. It was so intense. The music was clearly helping; it was the kind that made you even more enthusiastic, with an effective build-up.
2014 VIXX GLOBAL SHOWCASE
The screen paused, showing that line. The girls looked at each other with the widest smile right before the lights went out again. For a slight second, the screaming weakened, but went back full force as the members walked up on stage. It was very dark, so it was hard for anyone to see. Still, the faint silhouettes were enough to make everyone freak out. They got into position, the music started and the lights came back on, revealing the six boys.
“We back again now.”
That is it. The concert officially had begun. Wonshik started off with On And On. The other members were kneeling behind him in a straight line. Fans were screaming, waving their hands in the air.
“This is real fantasy. Attention, attention.” He continued.
“V! I! X! X!” The girls shouted in unison with the rest of the crowd. Fortunately almost everyone knew the fanchants.
“Cause I ain’t playing around!” The other members stood up one by one, making the fans scream even louder.
“Now! V-v-v-v-v I double X.”
“Dachil junbiga dwae isseo!” The crowd shouted the lyrics at the top of their lungs.
Everyone started singing along as the first verse came. Dancing, waving, shaking their lightstick – the crowd was partying. The girls sometimes looked at each other, as if they did not believe what they were seeing, only to start fangirling and turn back to the performance.
- On and On, Light Up The Darkness, Voodoo Doll, Hyde, Only You,
This Love (Jaehwan solo), Hongbin & Sanghyuk special stage, Dirty Player (Wonshik solo),
Outlaws Of Love (Taekwoon solo), Hakyeon solo dance stage,
Love Letter, Super Hero, Rock Ur Body, Hyde (Acoustic remix version), G.R.8.U -
The members gave a lot of fan service during the showcase, even to Nadia and Morena. They had chosen the right spot to get noticed. The girls both had multiple types of interactions with them. Nadia mostly got a reaction from a member due to her screams. She did not have a certain bias around the time of the showcase, so she fangirled to any of the members in the same way. Once, she even yelled “I love you” as Hakyeon was telling the crowd how proud he felt that the group even had fans around this area and he answered her back with a breathy “thank you”, smiling so brightly. He had to take a moment to continue talking as he stuttered from blushing.
Morena was also fangirling to any member, but was focussing more on her bias, Taekwoon. Nevertheless, she noticed that she got more attention from another member. Hongbin kept flashing a smile every time they had eye contact. During G.R.8.U, he pointed into the crowd and to her surprise, it was her he was pointing at. At first she thought that it could be anyone around her, but she started to believe it after multiple fans looked at her with widened eyes and even hyped her up. She looked back at him, smiling brightly while blushing heavily as he was still smiling towards her. She did have one moment with Taekwoon. As his solo performance, he chose to do a cover of a song that she knew by heart and she sang along loudly. As she was one of the only people to do so, he quickly noticed her. With a soft smile, he kept looking at her until the pre-chorus started. From time to time he checked if she was still singing along. And she was, proudly and touched.
The showcase lasted for more than two hours, but it felt much shorter for everyone. Luckily for the duo and the others with VVIP tickets, they still got to meet the members at the Hi-Touch. They were rushed back to the side of the stage and into the entrance hall, having to make a line. It was so long, that it reached all the way to the door. Morena wanted to be in one of the last groups to go so she could calm down her mind and shaking hands. She still had a lot of energy from the performance, but was shaking from the nerves. They could sit on the stairs and let their hurting feet be unburdened from their weight. Plus, luckily for them, it took about half an hour until the last group was allowed to get on stage where the Hi-Touch was taking place.
As they were walking, they sped up towards the stairs and went up the platform. They were both so nervous that they did not realize that they were the first of the group to arrive. The members were waiting for them, watching as they came up.
Sanghyuk, Taekwoon, Hongbin, Hakyeon, Wonshik, Jaehwan.
Nadia felt awkward seeing them and turned around to see the rest of the girls just walking through the entrance. Her eyes widened and in full panic she yelped and looked at Morena. Not wanting to embarrass herself and to chicken out, the latter pulled Nadia with her further on stage. She looked at the guys as Nadia tried to hide behind her.
“Annyeonghaseyo.” Morena greeted and bowed at the same time. Nadia was exposed for that second and felt her entire face heat up. The members greeted back in the same way as Morena did.
The girls used to think that they looked beautiful in pictures, but that clearly was a huge understatement.
As Morena looked next to her, she realized what Nadia was doing. “Come on Dia, let’s go.” Speaking softly and calm, she tried to get the other one to walk, but Nadia was not moving. Morena again pulled the girl with her and walked towards the first member in line, which was Sanghyuk. “Sorry, she’s very nervous.”
Sanghyuk chuckled and wanted to give the high five. As both Morena and him were cautious, they did not move their hands, waiting for the other to initiate the movement. His troubled expression and nervous smile made her giggle and even more cautious. Slowly, their hands touched – barely a high five given – as they let their eyes drop and both let out a nervous breathily laugh. Well, that was awkward.
She wanted to continue to the next member and let go of Sanghyuk’s touch. Before she could even start walking, the member had already pushed his hand against hers, pushing it higher up to the height of their face. This made her look at their hands first, in total confusion. She was so surprised that the member was so eager to do the high five and when she looked to the side to see who it was, she was staring right into the face of Taekwoon. She had totally forgotten that he was the next in line. They were looking at each other, their hands still touching. Morena felt her face glow red. She let go of Nadia her hand from the sudden numbness. She wanted to start saying something and without even realizing it, she raised her voice.
“I love you!”
She realized what she just said the moment when Taekwoon’s face went red as well as he started mumbling something unintelligible. Hongbin, who was standing besides him, began to laugh when he saw how Taekwoon reacted and tried to save himself. If Morena could just drop onto the floor and disappear, she would have done that that very second. Quickly, she continued giving Hongbin a legitimate high five.
Carefully handling Nadia, Sanghyuk managed to get a soft touch from her as well, but before he could say anything she had already pushed herself against Morena her back without even looking at Taekwoon. Morena, who had just given Hongbin a high five, turned around and looked at her.
“It’s ok, give him a high five.” Nadia’s anxiety had taken over again and she was too nervous to do anything. The staff was ordering the girls to hurry as they were taking a very long time, but the members understood the situation. Morena placed her hands on Nadia’s shoulders and revealed her to Taekwoon. With care, he gave the girl a soft high five. Even though Morena was still embarrassed, she looked at him and mouthed “thank you”. Continuing, Morena took Nadia with her and stayed with her to give the other members a high five. The other girls from the group had finally joined the line and started high fiving the members as well, but in total contrast of the two, they gave normal high fives with a sweet smile and sometimes a sweet word.
The girls walked further on stage as they could see ten chairs placed next to each other in two rows. They wanted to sit in the middle, but a man from the staff said that they should sit at the end of the row. Not wanting to irritate the man and be polite, they got to the last two chairs and sat down. Together they watched the rest of the fans give the high five and kept looking as the boys walked behind the chairs for the picture.
The duo was mesmerized. They really are so handsome. Morena had already turned to face the photographer who suddenly walked onto the stage.
“OK, there will be three pictures made, please look into the camera.” A familiar voice could be heard and a few seconds passed. “Nadia, please look into the camera.” The girl got pulled out of her trance, as she was still staring at the guys. Everyone started looking at her and because she heard her name, she started blushing and cringed. She turned more to the left and saw the manager standing in the wings. Quickly, she turned around and looked at the cameraman. The pictures were taken and the fans were asked to get up and leave. The eight others kindly said their goodbyes and left. Nadia looked at Morena with a saddened face.
“I screwed it all up, haven’t I?” She asked.
“No!” Morena took both Nadia’s hands and squeezed them a little. “You still did great.”
Nadia was not convinced. “Still…”
A short sigh escaped Morena’s mouth and she squeezed again. “You gave everyone a high five, right?” The girl nodded. “And you didn’t have a full break down, right?” Again, she nodded. “And you didn’t embarrass yourself like I did.” Morena tried to joke and got a little smile out of the other.
A staff member walked up to them and asked if the girls could leave. They listened, got up and walked off the stairs on the end of the stage. Right before the girls wanted to say their last goodbye to the members, the manager ran towards them.
“Hey girls.” He tried to catch his breath. “Did you like the showcase?”
“Yes we did.” Morena her smirk showed her satisfaction. When Jeonghwan looked at Nadia, she nodded contently. “You prepared everything well.”
The young man smiled. “Hehe, thanks. By the way, did you like meeting the boys?” He pointed towards them, still talking to each other on stage.
“Of course it was too short, but I really liked seeing them in real life.” Morena looked up to them and smiled brightly before returning to Jeonghwan.
“And you, Nadia?”
“Well, ehm. Yeah- eh…” She could not find her words as she blushed once again. “I-I-I loved it.” She started fidgeting with her index fingers and thumbs. Jeonghwan thought that it was adorable.
As they were talking, the members started staring at them – wondering why they were doing so. The manager rarely took random fans to have a talk. The short girl noticed it pretty early on and if her face could get any more redder, it would have happened to her. Awkwardly she tried to hide behind Morena again, getting the attention from her.
“What’s wrong?” Morena asked and followed Nadia’s stare, noticing the members as well. She giggled and bowed a little. The members that watched her at that moment did it back to her automatically.
“Hey.” Jeonghwan got both their attention back. “Will you two be staying here in Paris tomorrow as well?”
“Yes, it will be our last day.” During this conversation, Morena was the one to speak mostly as Nadia was still trying to calm down.
“Do you have plans?”
“Ehm.” She thought for a second. “Maybe some sightseeing. We haven’t done much of that in the last couple of days.”
“I’d also like to see more from this city. We’ve been to a couple of places, but we still have to go to the Eiffel Tower.”
“Well.” Morena turned to Nadia. “We’ve seen the tower plenty of times today.” They smiled at each other and Nadia softly punched the other on the upper arm, not wanting her to explain it any further. “But not up close or anything. We can show you around that area?” Half questioning half joking, she felt a pinch in her stomach.
“Well maybe you should.” He smiled and looked at his watch, instantly turning serious. “Ah, it’s late. We really have to go now.” They rapidly started saying their goodbyes and the man backed up a bit to leave them. “We’ll keep in touch.” He winked at them and got up stage again.
“See you later, Jeonghwan!” Morena waved. Nadia also managed to greet him, saying his name as well. The members looked at them in confusion once again, questioning how they knew him.
The girls then turned to the boys. Morena raised her voice, saying “Sugohaesseoyo” to tell them they did a good job. Even Nadia had collected enough courage to say her goodbye to them and they both bowed. Not every member reacted, but Jaehwan copied the girls by saying the same back to them in a childish manner – which made the three laugh. He felt accomplished and waved playfully. The girls waved back and then walked away, towards the entrance hall. They had been smiling the entire time as they kept looking at the members. When the doors closed behind them, their laughs turned into frowns and both let themselves fall onto the stairs. The darkness of the hall copied the sudden sadness that took over the duo.
“It’s over.” Morena instantly felt the tears burn at the back of her eyes. She really wanted to go back and see them one more time.
Nadia sighed. “Why couldn’t I be more like I was at the very end.” She sounded defeated.
“I’m already missing them so much.” As the tears were coming, Morena kept blinking to try to keep them in. Saying that was literally hurting her. She had never felt this way after seeing an artist in concert.
“Yeah, me too.”
Being the last ones to leave the normal exit, they apologized to the staff that was waiting for making it so late. The people said their goodbyes and after wishing them a safe trip home, the girls got out and went down the stairs again. Having to take yet one more flight of stairs up they turned left twice and walked past the building. It was like their feet turned into heavy bricks; they were walking slowly next to each other. The only emotion that could describe the two was sad. Maybe tired could fit as well, but mostly sad. Deep inside, they were of course happy that they had experienced the concert and had seen their favorite people, but the after concert depression hit them like a wrecking ball the moment that those doors closed behind them. They walked past another flight of stairs leading to the back entrance where some fans were waiting for the VIXX members and crew to come out. Without hesitation they continued walking and went on their way to Iéna station
I hate apologizing for being slow but got to do it again. Days been going quickly - like they merge, shortening my weeks. I just realized that I uploaded Tour Eiffel in January! My (mental) health & block prevent me from writing. I read the words I got over & over but nothing comes out. I'm so sorry
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